[snip]....So when you bring up this type of observation, it pays to be thinking real hard about what it is you want to accomplish, and how your words will work to that end.

I think this is the key to the whole subject matter, Ron.... "what do you want to accomplish?". And let's face it, there are actually a number of different beasts that are being called "Aikido". Superficially there is the pretense that "it's all Aikido", but if you look at what various people want to accomplish, it's obvious that some of the goals some practitioners have are by default going to exclude some of the goals other practitioners have in Aikido. So not everyone is really on the same page about what Aikido is and in what direction it should be headed.

To some people, Aikido is a "peace and harmony" New Age artifact and to some people it is a martial art they want to tune to effectiveness. Personally, I like to look at what O-Sensei did, what he taught, what skills he had, etc., and try to get to the core of them. I didn't notice that there was a great worry about "good Aikido" including the ideals of inclusivity, political correctness, etc., and therefore I feel these are distractions. If someone is good at Aikido or any other function, whether they're male or female, and they have reasonable personal hygiene, I'm willing to accept them for what they can do.